Can drinking coffee prevent liver cancer?

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurs more frequently in men than in women. the causes of this cancer include liver injury and liver cirrhosis. liver cirrhosis is caused by excessive drinking, autoimmune diseases, viral infections or too much iron in the body.

The study included data from 79890 men and women whose eating habits and lifestyles were surveyed by scientists for an average of 18 years. An analysis of the data showed that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day were 42% less likely to develop HCC.

V Wendy Setiavan, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said that in epidemiological studies, coffee drinking has been found to reduce the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). He said 18 years of data collected from different ethnic groups of men and women showed a dose-dependent link between increased coffee intake and a lower incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Similar to Parkinson's disease, Ⅱ diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer and stroke, HCC can now be added to the list of diseases that can be prevented by drinking coffee, according to Satyawan. He believes that groups with a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma should be encouraged to drink some coffee every day. There is growing evidence that drinking coffee is good for health, and some studies have even found that people who drink coffee for a long time live longer. Does this mean that we can prevent these diseases by drinking coffee every day from now on?

In fact, the conclusions of different types of medical research have their limitations. The recent study by the University of Southern California is a retrospective epidemiological analysis, using specific statistical software to analyze a large number of previous medical data. This conclusion can only show that some people in the United States have a low incidence of liver cancer during this period of time. Coffee drinkers have a lower incidence of liver cancer. But the study can only describe the facts, not the principle, and cannot conclude that drinking coffee can prevent liver cancer. Because the pathogenesis of liver cancer is complex, patients with liver cancer in different countries have different inducing factors, for example, the high incidence of liver cancer in China is chronic hepatitis B patients or carriers, while in the United States, patients with hepatitis C or alcoholic cirrhosis caused by frequent drinking are prone to liver cancer. Therefore, for the Chinese public, the main way to prevent and cure liver cancer is to do a good job of hepatitis B epidemic prevention, control of hepatitis virus replication and regular physical examination.